I designed this card to express how I feel about my children. How about saying these words to your own children? Help them feel like precious treasures. Because when children know that they are amazing and wonderful and CHERISHED, they have a healthy foundation for self-love and courage, and know that they have a safe place supporting them.

On the other hand, please don’t let your child hear that they were a surprise, or a mistake, or an “oopsie”. Those words can damage for life. If you were blessed with a child, however that happened, they are a treasure to be cherished.

Am I always diligent about letting my children know I love them, every single bit? No, of course not! I make mistakes, lose my temper, say things I shouldn’t. But I really try. I want them to know the gift they are to me.

Side note: Does that mean always sacrificing MY needs for theirs? No. I believe that always making them a priority, even over my own needs, teaches entitlement and expectation that the world will revolve around them, which we all know is not true. I model healthy self-love by taking time for myself and doing things that help replenish my spirit and restore my brain so I CAN take care of them better.

So, my friends, won’t you join with me in telling your children that you love them, “every single bit”?

(You can buy this card in myEtsy shopor click on the image to go directly.)

Having children with special needs is such a challenge! But one thing I’ve learned….it keeps us TOTALLY dependent on God. No way can I be “in control” because in the blink of an eye, our life could be in shambles.

There are days my prayer has been, “Oh God, oh God, oh God” because I just didn’t have words. Didn’t have energy to formulate words. It was all I could do to breathe and take care of my children (I am their only parent). Some weeks (months) every.single.day is a challenge. Like pushing a locomotive up a steep mountain.

And then, thank God, we will get a reprieve and I can at last take a deep breath. And I just sit. And sit. And let God fill my mind, body, and breath. And He brings healing to my emotions.

Because there is no doubt about how emotionally draining it is to watch your child hurt, or be disappointed because of physical limitations, or become emotionally so out-of-sorts that all day is a battle.

Or how physically and emotionally exhausting it is to be making hard, frustrating, impossible decisions for the duration of several days.

Sleep-deprived, worry-filled, and constantly searching for solutions can totally wring a person out!

But oh, God is able! The video below is amazing and so uplifting.

Mandisa sings her song Overcomer with clips of people who have overcome some extreme physical challenges.

I equate the physical with our mental and emotional challenges. It’s not an easy journey (Wait, what? It’s gonna be hard? Hey, I didn’t sign up for that!!!) But a journey that I hope will bring God glory. Because the glory is all His.

Anything that I’ve accomplished with my children has been while He was holding my hand, speaking into my spirit (sometimes I didn’t want to hear Him–la la la la la!), and guiding my every move. Because I was useless. Incapacitated.

In spite of that, and because of Him, my children are amazing miracles. But that’s a story for another time. Enjoy the video. You will be hooked!

Today my friend’s situation reminded me of the need for this card. There are a bunch of things pressing in on me and my brain is in a tizzy (southern expression for going crazy).

*I’m trying to get a seat belt installed before heading south. I had to cut it because my son became entangled in it, it retracted, and there was no other way to get him out. My auto tech guy had torn my van apart in order to access where it has to be installed, only to find out that I received the wrong seat belt from the dealer where I’d ordered it.

I’m crunched for time here. The seat belt cost $100 and now I have to drive 20 minutes to return it. And order another one, which would come in next Tuesday or Wednesday! Or try to find one. Have I mentioned I’m crunched for time?

*I may need new tires too because mine aren’t grabbing all that well in the snow. AND it’s supposed to snow/sleet on the day we are scheduled to leave. Ugh!

*I am working tonight, and while that is generally a fun time, I have been running for months and just want to be home.Tomorrow is another day of running. I’m getting kind of pooped. And honestly, doing this alone is sometimes overwhelming.

*I have a ton of wrapping to do before I leave. Because I haven’t even been home, this has mounted up. Not to mention the laundry, packing for a week, dishes, trying to keep growing teens fed….. I just want to stay home one full day!

The list is adding up, besides all the Christmas-y “to dos” that are the usual. Programs, gifts, decorating, and such.

SO I am practicing what I write about. I am taking a deep breath. I am trusting that things will all be finished, and I am believing that my Father has it all under control.

I do NOT want worry to steal from this most miraculous season. Last night I was crabby with my kids. That’s not how I want to spend the next week! I want to celebrate this season by relishing in each precious moment with my children and my family. These times pass so very quickly, and honestly, people are what it’s all about.

I’m also looking for alternative solutions:

I can wrap my presents when I get to my family’s house.

I can stay off of Facebook so I have more time.

I can choose the most important things to do first, instead of doing 6 things at once like I usually do.

And the money? Well I know that will work out. And I am working tonight so that will help.

I know from experience that these things do actually smooth out. So right now?

I am choosing to revive my inner warrior and banish the worrier!

What about you?

I am wishing you a very blessed and calm Christmas season. It is fast approaching, and I hope you can enjoy it to the fullest. That is MY plan.

You didn’t sign up for my blog to receive news about my Empowordment Cards, but because positive self image and encouraging others is my THING, these cards are a part of ME. Sooooo….

I won’t do a bazillion posts about them. BUT….

I have put a bunch of cards on 50% off sale, and I thought you might want to know.

Some of these designs are the first ones I created TWO years ago! And while I love them–they are like my babies, after all–I need to make room for some new designs. Sixty-three cards is a lot to manage, especially when they decide to throw a party behind my back! And let’s not talk about carrying them around when I do shows and such! Ugh! Can we say weighsalot?

This is a great time to stock up on cards for the year. I mean, where can you purchase a colorful, unique, glossy, heavy-weight, Mimi-designed 5×7 greeting card for $1.50? These are works of art, people. Well, some folks think so!

I mean they are all the rage in NYC!!

I have cards on sale that are fitting for birthday,

graduation,

Valentine’s and Sweetest Day or anniversary,

celebrations,

and just plain ol’ encouragement.

Take a walk on the wild side and browse on over at my shop to choose the ones you want to stock up on.

NOTICE: once they are out of stock, they are gone! Unless you want to order a 10-pack and then I’d be happy to re-order you some. 🙂

Thanks for letting me pitch a sale in your inbox. 🙂

Click right HERE to gain entrance to the much-coveted SALE section of my Etsy shop.

Shhhhh, you are the first to get a shot at it. But tomorrow I’m tellin’ the WORLD!!

And thank you soooo much for being my READERS!! I can’t even tell you what it means!

Love and really big sparkly HUGs to you,

Mimi

P.S. My watermark (logo) does not appear on the front of the cards you buy. It’s just for copyright purposes that it’s on them here.

Whew, what a crazy, busy last few weeks! From November 9 to 26 I was rarely home! In that two and a half weeks I:

had four days of vendor shows, including three setup-and-takedowns

taught reading to kindergarteners for four days,

drove to Kentucky and back (7 hours one way) to celebrate Thanksgiving with my family for two days,

and then worked again on Monday.

By Tuesday I was almost comatose! Let’s just say that this old(er) passionista was draaaaaaging her heels!

So the days I didn’t work I took naps. That’s my go-to self-care. And if I don’t take care of myself I’m no good to anyone, especially my kiddos.

If you remember, I am the only parent of two special needs teens. So it’s a bit high-maintenance at times, but they have come sooo far! Traveling with them has gotten so much easier! I now pack about half of what I had to before. Yay! Marking off those milestones!

Good news: my sales at the vendor shows were pretty good. I’m so thankful! I sold twenty-eight (28!!!) of my calendars. So excited that the words and affirmations will be helping people all year to remember their worth, their fabulous-ness, and that they are amazing. It’s just such a rush to know I am helping people. If you would like a reminder of the calendar, (I wrote about it recently here) watch this.

My most favorite thing about the vendor shows was talking to the people who stopped by my booth. I met some very interesting people!

One of the common threads of our conversations was that we all need to be encouraged, lifted up, and filled with positivity. That’s one reason I love what I do! Many people talked about how happy my booth made them feel. That everything was so cheerful and colorful. And I’m glad people felt that way, because I do too! I like that people were drawn to my booth. This world needs us to be a shining light that dispels the darkness. I’m doing that!

So today I got my trees up from the basement. Does that count as Christmas decorating? Not sure how much I’ll get done this year. I so love the look of my decorations, but do not care for the work of putting it all out. Where is that Samantha of Bewitched fame when you need her? Wish I could just wiggle my nose!

Well, I hear my bed calling my name.

I hope you have a great week ahead. May all your Christmas lights stay lit!!

I taught reading to reluctant kindergarteners for three hours,

went to an appointment,

returned home in time to get my son off the bus –his OCD meant he asked every few minutes if we were going to the book fair at his school,

took him (which means dragged him) to get a haircut (sensory overload),

and then to the book fair because I couldn’t handle another day of his asking,

picked up some dinner,

rushed home to help my daughter get dressed for her concert (which meant some raised voices because Anxiety Disorder and choir concerts don’t mix, and we also got to add in PMS so it was REAL fun!),

rushed to the concert (which was great!),

got my too-tired children into bed and myself soon after.

This was followed by Monday night Trick-or-Treat which is a little challenging still because being on my feet a long time is difficult with the metal in my ankle (a 4″ plate and nine screws–read about it here),

and then Tuesday I climbed a ladder up and down for about 3 hours to clean my gutters of the slimy mess that had plugged them up (remember the ankle?).

He gets out early today, and I was supposed to work–a first occurence for me since I’ve retired.

I began to worry that something might happen to prevent my sitter from getting there,

and no one would be at home for him to get off the bus (he is special-needs and can’t be home alone),

and I’d be at school, and WHAT WOULD I DO?!!

When I got up at 5:45, I felt like a semi had run over me!

I have just begun working as an educational consultant at the school I retired from. There are many children struggling to learn to read and to reach grade level, so I am helping with small groups in a kindergarten classroom. I really wanted to stay home and switch work days to tomorrow (I am only working two days a week because of all the other things I do).

But what would the teacher I’m helping THINK of me? Would she think I’m some flighty person, unable to keep my committments? Is she depending on me for a specific thing today?

I debated for a bit. But chose to take care of myself, regardless of what she thought. I found a way to leave her a message on her classroom phone and told her what I was doing. She messaged me that going in tomorrow was fine. (Really, she is a darling, and a friend, so I know–on this side of 4 a.m.–well kinda, that she would not have thought poorly of me!)

Today I am sharing with you Vanessa’s post on At The Picket Fence. She wrote about how we are called to be the light in this increasingly dark world. It resonated with me, perhaps because I believe my purpose is to shine my light as I speak life and truth in my writing and speaking, and even in my Empowordment Cards. I love what ATPF and other bloggers are doing. She writes about it at the end of her post (in the green). Read on!

Truly we are living in a time where darkness could threaten to overtake us. Many things are pulling at our spirits and some days it’s a huge battle to stay positive and uplifting.

If you are a parent, you know the effects of being grumpy, impatient, or dismissive to your children while you are feeling down in the dumps. It’s quite important to be on top of your feelings and communicate with your children if you are having a bad day. That is being honest. We shouldn’t pretend everything is fine if we are feeling out-of-sorts, because children are really good detectives. And, at least with my own, they will become anxious, sensing that something is wrong, and begin to act out themselves.

Unfortunately, right now during election time, anxiety and fear are on the rise. I’m not going to debate anything here, but if you have even been half awake the last several months, you know what I’m talking about. Vanessa writes about it and adds her wisdom. Make sure you visit her site to take advantage of the opportunity mentioned at the end of her post.

BE THE LIGHT

The other evening I found myself feeling so down. My spirit felt burdened, I was grumpy and I just wanted to crawl into bed and pull the covers up over my head. But, as I stood at the kitchen sink washing the last of the dinner dishes I began to wonder why I was feeling that way. Nothing bad had actually happened. There was nothing in my own life where I could actually draw a correlation between it and my feelings. I couldn’t even blame it on PMS. So I started thinking back through my day, trying to trace the shift in my mood. And that’s when I realized what had triggered these feelings.

Social media.

A discussion had taken place on Facebook. A political one (shocker!). And I found myself getting sucked into it.

My engagement in it was minimal, but the effect it was having on me was significant. I allowed it to suck me in, to take me to a place that felt very dark. It left me feeling confused, fearful and isolated.

As I stood there at my kitchen sink, washing up the last of the dinner dishes, I realized that I was giving power to this darkness by permitting it to invade my mind and my spirit.

And that’s when I felt the gentle voice of my Heavenly Father reminding me of the truth. The truth of His sovereignty and what He is calling me to be in this temporary world of mine.

He is calling me to be light.

So, when I was approached by my dear friend Deborah of Salvage Sister and Mister to join the challenge to be the light in the ever growing dark world and confusing world of social media, I didn’t hesitate to say yes!

***During the week of Nov 1-8, 8 bloggers will share their stories and encouragement to be the light in the darkness.***

The purpose of the ‘Be the Light Challenge’ is to encourage~

How to share opinions (political or not) in a Godly manner

How to guard our hearts and minds

How to deal with conflict online

Setting limits/boundaries (1 Corinthians 6:12)

Encouraging/building others up

Fruits of the Spirit

Visit her blog post for the links to other bloggers that are helping us through the darkness. I’m really glad they are doing this.

Hello lovelies!

Goodness this last six months has been incredibly busy. I seriously don’t know how I had time to teach full time before I retired. Of course, I’ve added three jobs since then, all of them MY businesses. And I am entirely responsible for all three. That along with raising two special needs kiddos in their teen years (and all the doctor visits involved with that) has kept me super busy.

I will catch up on happenings later. Right now I want to show you my 2017 calendar! I’m very excited about it. Instead of using a template with the borders provided like the last two years, I created all my own borders. I also decided that instead of using my previously published cards, I would design all new ones.

This year I focused on affirmations. For half of the months you have three “I am” statements to read every day. Thus you will hopefully integrate them into your spirit!

For the other six months I have given written statements about you. I truly enjoyed creating this calendar. I know it will make a difference in your self-esteem and also in that of the females in your life.

It’s a great gift for friends, daughters, granddaughters, nieces, ANY person who could use a little reminder of how amazing and capable they are–which means all of us!

Visual reminders are the best!! And then when we say these words out loud? Oh yeah!! Way to start believing them. We can reprogram our brains to think the truth about who we are, instead of listening to the lies we tell ourselves.

The pages are easy to write on, which is important in my book. Glossy on the picture and matt on the calendar. Perfect!
The squares marking each day are a bit over 1 1/4″ square, large enough to jot your goals or achievements down. Great for marking progress each day!

Size is 17″ by 11″ when open so it can tuck into a small space. But it will make quite the visual impact! Place by your bathroom mirror to give you a message every morning, or in your office or work area so that while you are daydreaming you’ll be reminded of WHO you are!!

I really hope you will add one of these to your life because you deserve to be told how wonderful you are on a daily basis! If you’d like to purchase you can go to my shop on Etsy.